Multivitamin Supplements

Why They Are Essential to Your Health

Multivitamin supplements often include minerals. Some of the minerals that people are prone to be deficient in are iron, magnesium, zinc, and calcium. Multivitamin supplements contain many different kinds of vitamins, including the ones listed here.

Vitamin A is found in many multivitamin supplements. Deficiency in vitamin A is uncommon unless you are elderly. It is vital for your immune system to function optimally, and it is sometimes taken to prevent bone loss and certain types of birth defects. But vitamin A should never be taken in large doses because it can be dangerous.

Beta carotene is an antioxidant in multivitamin supplements that helps increase white blood cell numbers and boosts the body's disease fighting immune activities. Together, vitamin A and beta carotene keep the cells in your eyes healthy.

Folic acid is especially important during pregnancy and is included in prenatal multivitamin supplements. Folic acid deficiencies can lead to low birth weight and an increased risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida in babies.

There are quite a few B vitamins, and most of them are found in multivitamin supplements. Folic acid is technically a B vitamin. Pyridoxine is another. Along with B12, pyridoxine is important for controlling levels of homocysteine in the blood. High levels of homocysteine can lead to heart disease, strokes, and Alzheimer's disease. Vitamin B12 can also help fight heart disease, anemia, and memory loss. Thiamine, also called vitamin B1, is important for proper brain function. The vitamin niacin, also called B3, prevents a disease called pellagra. Pellagra is relatively rare, but it is caused by a deficiency in niacin and results in scaly sores on the skin, inflamed mucous membranes, diarrhea, and mental confusion.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant and a booster of the immune system that helps keep skin healthy and helps in healing of wounds and scars.

Vitamin D is essential to proper absorption of the mineral calcium. A deficiency of vitamin D can lead to bone loss, fractures, and a disease called rickets, which can result in severe bone pain. Though vitamin D can be manufactured by the human body from exposure to sunlight, it is included in multivitamin supplements too because the deficiency can be so painful. However, that does not mean that you should take mega doses of it.

If you shop around, you can find multivitamin supplements that contain vitamin K. Deficiency in vitamin K can cause bleeding and leads to easy bruising and osteoporosis (brittle bones).

Along with vitamin D and vitamin K, calcium is a mineral found in many multivitamin supplements. It is necessary for building and maintaining adequate bone mass. Consuming enough calcium reduces the risk of bone fractures in older people.

While multivitamin supplements may provide more than 100% of your recommended daily allowance of some vitamins, it is not a good idea to consume enormous amounts of any vitamin or mineral. The levels in multivitamins are generally considered safe, but supplements containing individual vitamins sometimes contain doses large enough that they could be risky.

Theoretically, your diet is supposed to be sufficient to provide 100% of your recommended daily allowance of the basic vitamins and minerals, but the person who eats a balanced diet with adequate vitamins and minerals every single day is rare in today's fast-paced world. There are many multivitamins available, and it may take some research to decide which kind is best for you. If you start taking a multivitamin supplement and experience any side effects, it is a good idea to stop taking them and see if the problem goes away. If so, you should ask your doctor to recommend a multivitamin supplement.

There are about a dozen recognized vitamins that humans are recommended to consume in certain quantities. A long term shortage in any of them can cause symptoms of vitamin deficiency. While multivitamin supplements can do a great job of preventing vitamin deficiencies, they are not a substitute for a healthy lifestyle, including a healthy diet and regular exercise.

By Hien Chung